Rovio has decided to cancel its Moomin: Puzzle & Design mobile game after more than two years in soft launch. The game, featuring blast and renovate mechanics, first launched on January 24th, 2022, and was available in the United States, Japan, Poland, and Finland.
Development of the title officially ended on April 11th, 2024, with all in-app purchases disabled and servers scheduled to shut down on July 8th.
Reason for Shutdown
Rovio explained that despite the team’s efforts, Moomin Puzzle & Design did not meet the company’s high standards for global launch. As a result, the decision was made to discontinue the game.
For players who made a purchase within the last 30 days prior to the shutdown of monetization, there will be a “limited-time offer” to transfer their purchases to Angry Birds Dream Blast.
According to AppMagic estimates, the game generated $587k in gross player spending and amassed over 400k downloads.
Exclusive Rights and Acquisition
Rovio had acquired six-year exclusive rights for Moomin mobile games in June 2021. Alongside this deal, the studio also invested in Gutsy Animations, the creators of the Moominvalley 3D animation series.
After being acquired by Sega in a €706 million ($775 million) deal last year, Rovio gained access to Sega’s IP such as Sonic the Hedgehog, in addition to its own IPs. The two companies have already collaborated on crossover events within their respective games.
PocketGamer.biz recently had the opportunity to visit Rovio’s headquarters in Espoo, Finland, and will soon publish a comprehensive interview with the company.
